Job loss could come with ship work, shipyard union says

The union that represents shipyard support workers says hundreds of jobs could be lost in Halifax when the Armed Forces hands a greater chunk of maintenance and repair work to private industry.

In April 2016, the government will switch to an in-service support program for the next generation of Canadian navy ships. This new program will have more work done by private contractors.

Ottawa says it wants to create a holistic approach to designing, installing, maintaining and training for the complex technology on modern navy ships.

“The review is about optimizing work with industry as the work being discussed is already largely done by industry,” said Canadian Forces spokeswoman Ashley Lemire in an email.

But this approach will also mean private industry retains intellectual property rights over equipment, and contractors could have the government over a barrel when it comes to future negotiations, said John MacLennan, president of the Union of National Defence Employees.

This will mean more defence contractors going out to sea on navy ships because they are the only ones able to perform maintenance on the radar, weapons and other systems that make up a warship, said MacLennan.

But he warned that in cases of unexpected deployments, such as Canada’s aid mission to Haiti in 2010, private contractors will have the leverage to demand huge payments from the government.

“There are contractors in the workplace now, it’s not foreign to national defence, but this is just going to migrate itself into getting rid of the public service,” said MacLennan.

The Defence Department says its new approach will expand the expertise of Canada’s defence industry but keep core capabilities within government. It refers to the change as “a more strategic partnership with industry.”

The government typically sets the specifications for what it needs, sometimes designing it in-house, then sends it out for tender. About 1,000 civil servants then do the work of installing and repairing the equipment on navy ships across the country.

MacLennan said many of those jobs will be lost to attrition over the coming years, including up to around 400 in Halifax, as they are replaced by private-sector jobs. He said he does not expect layoffs but rather for the jobs to be erased through attrition.

The department said in a statement Tuesday that “there has not been any discussion of job losses.”

Defence officials met with unions on Jan. 10 and outlined some of their plan.

The new maintenance plan will apply to both the Arctic/offshore patrol ships to be built by Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax and the resupply ships being built in British Columbia by Seaspan Marine.